{"id":7010,"date":"2022-09-16T17:19:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T01:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7010"},"modified":"2022-09-16T17:19:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T01:19:09","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-368","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2022\/09\/16\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-368","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 368"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>     On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is volume 368, which is apparently how many ways there are to tile a 4\u00d715 rectangle with the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/Pentomino.html\">pentominoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/samf.substack.com\/p\/gradually-then-suddenly?utm_source=twitter&amp;sd=pf\" target=\"_blank\">Gradually, then Suddenly<\/a>&nbsp;(Lawrence Freedman, Substack): \u201cIt would of course be premature to pronounce a complete Ukrainian victory in the war because of one successful and unexpected breakthrough. But what has happened over the past few days is of historic importance. This offensive has overturned much of what was confidently assumed about the course of the war.\u2026 Russia is losing but it has not yet lost. It still occupies a large chunk of Ukrainian territory and still has substantial military assets in the country.\u201d<ul><li>Good news from Ukraine. The author is professor emeritus of war studies at King\u2019s College in London. He\u2019s not some rando popping off.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/andrewsullivan.substack.com\/p\/an-icon-not-an-idol-71f\" target=\"_blank\">An Icon, Not An Idol<\/a>&nbsp;(Andrew Sullivan, Substack): \u201cThe Crown represents something from the ancient past, a logically indefensible but emotionally salient symbol of something called a nation, something that gives its members meaning and happiness. However shitty the economy, or awful the prime minister, or ugly the discourse, the monarch is able to represent the&nbsp;<em>nation<\/em>&nbsp;all the time. In a living, breathing, mortal person. The importance of this in a deeply polarized and ideological world, where fellow citizens have come to despise their opponents as enemies, is hard to measure. But it matters that divisive figures such as Boris Johnson or Margaret Thatcher were never required or expected to represent the entire nation. It matters that in times of profound acrimony, something unites.\u201d<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/usmissions.ag.org\/sharedcontent\/penews\/No-Longer-Struggling-to-Believe\" target=\"_blank\">No Longer Struggling To Believe<\/a>&nbsp;(John W. Kennedy, AG News): \u201cThe first week on campus in Conway, Schiefer went to a&nbsp;Chi Alpha gathering&nbsp;\u2014 on accident. She saw a flyer advertising an event with a band. She appreciated the music, but no so much the lyrics. Jesus kept popping up in the words of the choruses. \u2018It\u2019s not that I hated Christians,\u2019 says the straightforward Schiefer. \u2018I just thought they were stupid.\u2019 Still, Schiefer left the initial meeting with a nagging sensation that she had a void in her life. That first semester, several of her dormmates who treated her with respect regularly went to Chi Alpha gatherings and they invited her along. Soon she began attending every Monday night. \u2018I found friendship before faith,\u2019 Schiefer says. \u2018My classmates weren\u2019t intimidated by my lack of faith or my asking questions.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2022\/09\/09\/ex-alien-judge-speaks-out-in-favor-of-using-the-statutory-term-alien-rather-than-noncitizen\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ex-Alien Judge Speaks Out in Favor of Using the Statutory Term \u201cAlien\u201d Rather Than \u201cNoncitizen\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;(Eugene Volokh, Reason): \u201cDefenders of \u2018noncitizen\u2019 sometimes claim that this word is interchangeable with alien because everyone is a citizen of somewhere, sans the unusual case of the individual who has somehow been rendered stateless. This contention is not an accurate excuse. For one, monarchies exist. A Spanish born person is a \u2018subject\u2019 of the Kingdom of Spain, albeit he may have democratic rights. One born in Saudi Arabia is similarly a \u2018subject\u2019 of the House of Saud. Even more, a person born in American Samoa or Swains Island is a U.S. national, but not a citizen; he or she cannot vote in federal elections nor hold federal office. These distinctions matter. Words matter. Our federal immigration statutes concern themselves with aliens. This word is not a pejorative nor an insult. I certainly did not consider it an insult to be referred to as an alien in my deportation proceedings.\u201d Fascinating.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-education\/the-debate-over-muslim-college-students-getting-secret-marriages\" target=\"_blank\">The Debate Over Muslim College Students Getting Secret Marriages<\/a>&nbsp;(Emma Green, The New Yorker): \u201cMohajir tries to be direct in her book. She writes that \u2018there appears to be a profound rise in the prevalence of secret marriages among Muslim Americans, especially polygynous secret marriages,\u2019 in which men take more than one wife. \u2018I personally have a major, visceral reaction to polygamy,\u2019 Quraishi-Landes, the Wisconsin scholar, who also edited the book, said. \u2018I was, like, \u2018I don\u2019t want to normalize secret polygamy. I don\u2019t like that.\u2019 Mohajir replied, \u2018Look, the whole book is about real-life relationships. And if people are really in a real-life polygamous relationship, here\u2019s how we can help them make it healthy and not abusive.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d<ul><li>I had heard of secret marriages, but I hadn\u2019t considered that secret marriages among young Muslim men would almost certainly be polygamous.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commonsense.news\/p\/how-the-media-fell-for-a-racism-sham\" target=\"_blank\">How the Media Fell for A Racism Sham<\/a>&nbsp;(Jesse Singal, Bari Weiss\u2019s Substack): \u201cFor millions of people watching this story unfold, this was yet another example of the ineradicable stain of American racism, of just how little progress we\u2019ve really made. Except it didn\u2019t happen.\u2026 All the journalists who credulously reported on this event were wrong\u2014and it was an embarrassing kind of wrong, because the red flags were large, numerous, and flapping loudly. Richardson and her family members reported that racial slurs had been hurled with abandon, loudly and repeatedly, in a crowded gym filled with more than 5,000 people. But the journalists covering this incident never stopped to notice how odd it was that none of these vile slurs were captured by any of the thousands of little handheld cameras in the gym at the time, nor on the bigger cameras recording the match. Nor did they find it strange that in the days following the incident, not a single other eyewitness came forward\u2014none of Richardson\u2019s black teammates, and none of the players for either team.\u201d<ul><li>I\u2019ve been following this story, waiting for a thorough well-put together piece. This is it. It illuminates something very sad about contemporary media.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tixOyiR8B-8\" target=\"_blank\">Blunt Vietnam Marine Tells You Exactly What Happened To Him<\/a> (Bill Ehrhart, YouTube): sixteen minutes. Recommended by a student \u2014 extremely interesting. In the comments the filmmaker recommends watching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SRR2eQn6pRg\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SRR2eQn6pRg\">Magnificent Vietnam Green Beret Tells What Happened To Him<\/a> (David Christian, YouTube, one hour long!) to hear an equally articulate but differing perspective. I have watched excerpts from it and can confirm he\u2019s a good storyteller and disagrees with the first gent quite strongly. Both recommended if you have the time and are interested in war\/foreign policy.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R5rnI9nbzfg\" target=\"_blank\">David Blaine Freaks Jimmy Out with a Terrifying Card and Nail Trick<\/a>&nbsp;(The Tonight Show, YouTube): ten minutes, featuring one of our students at a pivotal moment in the first trick (2:30&nbsp;in)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/interesting-4\" target=\"_blank\">Interesting Numbers<\/a>&nbsp;(SMBC)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fwong\/status\/1569736492247044103\" target=\"_blank\">How to Find a Good Chinese Restaurant<\/a>&nbsp;(Twitter): fifty second video<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZE_EXG_Xvjg\" target=\"_blank\">Yu Hojin Shocks The Audience With Jaw-Dropping Magic<\/a>&nbsp;(America\u2019s Got Talent, YouTube): three impressive minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xi4vd8bTPOU\" target=\"_blank\">Magic + Science = some EXTREMELY shocked Judges! | Unforgettable Audition<\/a>&nbsp;(Britain\u2019s Got Talent, YouTube): seven minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TJX-z0O9TOE\" target=\"_blank\">MARKOBI \u2014 World Champion of Magic \u2014 FISM Winner<\/a>&nbsp;(YouTube): ten minutes. Simply amazing effects combined with the appearance of ineptness.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ww3NJjGwacA\" target=\"_blank\">The Joys of Eating Healthy<\/a>&nbsp;(Moody McCarthy, YouTube): three minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1s3HIr2d4dQ\" target=\"_blank\">Small Town Life Just Hits Different<\/a>&nbsp;(Matt Falk, YouTube): seven minutes.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/20thcenturymarc\/status\/1569310683140964358\" target=\"_blank\">The Imperial March over King Charles\u2019 entrance to Westminster Hall<\/a>&nbsp;(Twitter): one minute.&nbsp;<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/op-ed-i-would-like-your-undivided-attention-please---why-are-you-touching-me-i-will-literally-stab-you-in-the-throat\/\" target=\"_blank\">I Would Like Your Undivided Attention Please \u2014 WAIT WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME I WILL LITERALLY STAB YOU IN THE THROAT \u2014 An Op-Ed By Your Cat<\/a>&nbsp;(Babylon Bee):&nbsp;facts<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/2020\/01\/59584\/\" target=\"_blank\">Weathering the Storm: How Faith Affects Well-Being<\/a>&nbsp;(Byron Johnson &amp; Christos Makridis, Public Discourse): \u201cFirst, and consistent with prior studies, active Christians exhibit 6 percent greater current life satisfaction and are 6 percentage points more likely to report that they are thriving\u2014a measure from Gallup that combines respondent information on both current life satisfaction and expected future life satisfaction over the next five years. Second, and at least as important, we found that SWB is either acyclical or slightly countercyclical for active Christians, whereas it is strongly procyclical for (inactive) Christians and theists.\u201d Christos is an alumnus of our ministry. The study which this article summarizes is on SSRN:&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3429422\" target=\"_blank\">Does Religious Affiliation Protect People\u2019s Well-being? Evidence from the Great Recession After Correcting for Selection Effects<\/a>.&nbsp; From&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/01\/24\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-235\" target=\"_blank\">volume 235<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I\u2019ll usually mention it). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent.\n\nAlso, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way. This is volume 368, which is apparently how many ways there are to tile a 4\u00d715 rectangle with the&nbsp;pentominoes. \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2022\/09\/16\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-368\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 368\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Links pertaining to war, to royalty, and to weirdness.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[243,319,227,123,172,184,310,274],"class_list":["post-7010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-chi-alpha","tag-england","tag-immigration","tag-islam","tag-racism","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-war"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1P4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7010"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7012,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010\/revisions\/7012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}